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Booking Flights on Skyscanner: Everything You Need to Know

Booking Flights on Skyscanner: Everything You Need to Know

Skyscanner is one of the best flight booking search engines, which can help you find the cheapest flights to all destinations. After using Skyscanner countless times over the years to search for and book cheap flights, there are definitely some important things to know to get the best deals and to avoid any pitfalls. In this guide, we’re going to tell you everything you need to know about booking flights on Skyscanner, which will help you save money.

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The Ultimate Guide to Booking Flights on Skyscanner

Undoubtedly, Skyscanner is one of the best tools that you can use to search for and find cheap flights online. Of course, there are other similar flight search engines such as Momondo and Kayak. But, Skyscanner is the most popular, well-known and trusted search engine for finding and booking cheap flights.

To get the ball rolling, we’re going to tell you a little bit more about Skyscanner. Afterwards, we’ll talk about how to search for and book a flight on the platform. We’ll then reveal some extra tips and tricks to help you consistently find the best flight deals.

After that, we’ll address any concerns you may have about using Skyscanner, talking through how to avoid any potential problems, hidden fees or scams (which are rare). Finally, we’ll answer a whole bunch of FAQs to further allay any uncertainties or queries you have about booking flights on Skyscanner.

Let’s get started by looking at what Skyscanner is, how it works and why you should use it. Are you ready for take-off?

Skyscanner logo

What Is Skyscanner?

Skyscanner is a flight fare aggregator (AKA a flight booking search engine). Simply put, Skyscanner is an online tool that gathers and displays the best fares for any particular flight route.

How Does Skyscanner Work?

Skyscanner works by comparing prices offered both directly by the airline and by numerous online travel agencies (third-party suppliers) selling tickets for the same flight.

So, what exactly is an online travel agency? You’ve probably heard of them before – Kiwi.com, Expedia, eDreams, LastMinute.com, etc. Essentially, they act as an intermediary between the customer and the airline. So, why would you bother booking through an online travel agency when you can book directly with the airline?

Well, online travel agencies can offer better deals on flights that aren’t available directly from the airline. Indeed, these smaller sites are more likely to sell flights at a discounted rate compared with the price offered by the airline itself.

Book Flights on Skyscanner

Skyscanner logo

Book cheap flights of Skyscanner today. Feel free to use our guide on how to save money booking flights on Skyscanner below. Otherwise, have a go yourself! Simply press the button below to search for and book a flight on Skyscanner.

Why You Should Book Flights on Skyscanner

At the end of the day, we all want to find the best deals on flights. By using Skyscanner, you can quickly and easily find the cheapest flights offered directly by the airline and by several online travel agencies.

Instead of tediously individually searching for flights on different websites, Skyscanner presents all of the cheapest airfares, offered by all of the online travel agencies as well as the airlines themselves. In effect, Skyscanner does all the hard work for you. This will give you more time, perhaps to plan that trip of a lifetime – will it be Peru, Mexico or Australia?

Of course, it’s not just time you’ll save – it’s money that you’ll save, as Skyscanner will find you all of the cheapest flights available to any given destination.

Below, we’ll start to look at how to book flights on Skyscanner so you can travel to your bucket list destination at a discounted rate.

Dan and Beck in Peru after booking flights on Skyscanner

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How to Search and Book Flights on Skyscanner

Skyscanner is very easy and simple to use. Below, we’ll briefly outline the basic steps to complete a Skyscanner flight search.

  1. Go to Skyscanner.net
  2. Select the destination you want to travel from and go to
  3. Select the dates you want to leave and return
  4. Choose the cabin class
  5. Choose how many adults and/or children (aged 0–15 years) will be flying
  6. Press ‘Search’

Once you press ‘Search’, the search engine often takes a few seconds to process all of the best deals. Soon enough, you’ll be presented with a list of the best route options that suit your search criteria.

A screenshot of booking flights on Skyscanner

Explore Alternate Flight Routes

You can then sort the search to help you find the exact flight route that you’re looking for. Some of the most popular ways to sort the list of flights are in order of the cheapest and the fastest.

You can also filter your search to further narrow down your choices. Some of the most helpful filters include the number of stops, departure times, journey duration and the airline.

Booking Flights Directly With Skyscanner

Once you’ve chosen the route you prefer, simply click ‘Select’. The next page will list the prices of the flights for your chosen route offered by online travel agencies and airlines. Once you choose the flight deal that you want to book, click ‘Select’ and you’ll be redirected to the airline’s or online travel agency’s website to complete the booking for the selected flight. That’s it!

Read How to Avoid Scams on Skyscanner and Is It Safe to Book Flights on Skyscanner? to ensure you avoid any issues with booking flights with online travel agencies on Skyscanner. In short, you’re safe to book with the far majority of online travel agencies because these companies are vetted by Skyscanner. But, it won’t hurt to do some extra homework and research to avoid booking with online travel agencies that offer poor customer service or charge extra fees for changing flights.

A screenshot of the process of booking flights on Skyscanner

How to Save Money Booking Flights on Skyscanner

You now know how to search for and book a flight on Skyscanner. But, that’s just the basics! There are many other ways to save money booking flights on Skyscanner. Below, we’ll reveal some tips on how to find cheap flights and how to secure cheap flight tickets.

To help us explain how to save more money during the Skyscanner flight booking process, we’ll use an example of booking a return flight from Manchester to Sydney. This is a flight that Beck and I regularly book on Skyscanner.

Dan and Beck in Sydney after booking flights on Skyscanner.

Use Skyscanner Flexible Dates When Booking Flights

By having flexibility with the dates of travel, it’s easy to find a cheaper flight. Of course, many people choose the dates of their flights based on when they’re cheapest. By clicking ‘Flexible’ on Skyscanner, you can quickly search the prices for each day of any given month. That way, you’ll be able to see exactly which day will be cheaper to fly.

A screenshot of the process of booking flights on Skyscanner

Choose Your Dates to Find the Cheapest Flights

If you use the ‘Flexible’ option on Skyscanner, you can then select specific dates to check the cheapest airfare on offer for those dates. Bear in mind, that you won’t know the flight details until you click ‘Find flights’. Once you press ‘Find flights’, you can then sort and filter the routes for the dates you’ve selected to find the cheapest flight available.

A screenshot of the process of booking flights on Skyscanner

Use the ‘Everywhere’ Feature

Another great way to find the cheapest flights on Skyscanner is by using the ‘Everywhere’ function. Essentially, the ‘To’ field will be filled with ‘Everywhere’ once you click ‘Explore everywhere’. Once you choose your dates, class cabin and number of travellers, Skyscanner will list all of the cheapest destinations to fly to for the dates selected.

Certainly, if you’re flexible with the travel destination, you can find some great flight deals on Skyscanner by using the ‘Everywhere’ feature.

A screenshot of the process of booking flights on Skyscanner
A screenshot of the process of booking flights on Skyscanner

The ‘Everywhere’ feature can also be used in another unique way to find cheaper flights. What we’re about to explain usually only works for long-haul travel. So, we’ll use the example of flying from Manchester to Sydney.

First, set the ‘From’ field to Manchester and choose ‘Explore anywhere’. By doing this, you’ll see the cheapest flights going anywhere in the world. Let’s say, it’s really cheap to fly from Manchester to Athens. You should then search for flights from Athens to Sydney. In effect, you may find that it’s cheaper to fly, for example, from Manchester to Athens and then from Athens to Sydney, rather than flying from Manchester to Sydney.

This could help you save tonnes of money when booking long-haul flights on Skyscanner.

Other Skyscanner Tips, Tricks and Hacks

Please read below if you want to find out extra tips, tricks and hacks for finding and booking the cheapest flights on Skyscanner.

Sign Up For Price Alerts to Find Deals

Price alerts are a great feature on Skyscanner, which allows you to keep up to date with the latest flight deals. As mentioned, once you select ‘Find flights’ for specific dates, Skyscanner will present a list of route options. On this page, you’ll find the ‘Get Price Alerts’ button. By clicking this button, you can sign up to receive notifications from Skyscanner to alert you when there are lower airfares or deals.

A screenshot of the process of booking flights on Skyscanner

Without a doubt, Price Alerts is a game changer. If you’re not in a rush to book a flight, you can simply sign up for the Price Alert, wait for the deal to arrive and then book the flight when it’s cheapest. Best of all, you can sign up for price alerts for free!

Jack’s Flight Club

Jack's Flight Club

Are you too busy to set flight alerts on Skyscanner? Are you based in the UK, Europe or the USA? Let Jack’s Flight Club do all of the hard work for you. Sign up for Premium Membership and receive regular flight deal alert emails.

Check Last Minute Flight Deals

Skyscanner also conveniently organise and show you all of the best last-minute flight deals on their website here. This is a great option for the intrepid traveller. If you’re keen on a last-minute deal and are flexible with the location, you could save loads of money!

A screenshot of the process of booking flights on Skyscanner

Savings Generator

One of the most recent features on Skyscanner is the the Savings Generator tool. This tool uses previous flight data to give travellers insights on how and when to book the cheapest flight (for some routes). All you need to do is choose your departure location, desired travel destination and the preferred month of flying and the tool will tell you the best time to travel as well as how far in advance to book.

Certainly, Skyscanner is at the forefront of modern technology designed to help you find and book the cheapest flights. If you use the Savings Generator, please let us know in the comments below. We’d love to hear about your experience.

How to Avoid Scams on Skyscanner

The biggest concern for some travellers is whether it’s safe to book flights on Skyscanner. Rest assured, Skyscanner is a legit company and using them to find cheap flights won’t put you at any risk. It’s actually the online travel agencies that Skyscanner lists that you need to be cautious about.

You may have heard of a nightmare story, where a traveller books a flight with an online travel agency and never receives their ticket. In reality, this type of incident is extremely rare and will likely happen due to an unusual system error – not a scam.

Thankfully, the online travel agencies listed on Skyscanner are screened for legitimacy and authenticity. Sure, some of the online travel agencies may not have the best customer service or may even charge ridiculously high fees if you need to change the flight, but they are genuine companies.

In the UK at least, many online travel agencies are ATOL-protected, which means you have an extra layer of consumer protection against any wrongdoing. There are similar protection schemes in place throughout Europe. Unfortunately, there isn’t a similar scheme in the USA.

Of course, before booking a flight with an online travel agency on Skyscanner, make sure to do your due diligence. Skyscanner actually provides a rating for each online travel agency it lists. So, definitely check this. Additionally, we recommend doing your own research and reading reviews online about any online travel agency you’re interested in booking a flight deal with. That way, you can ensure the online travel agency is reliable and trustworthy.

Other than experiencing poor customer service at times, Beck and I have booked many flights with online travel agencies on Skyscanner and have never run into any trouble or scams.

Beck and Dan in Sicily

​​​​​​​Other Things to Know About Booking Flights With Skyscanner

So, you’ve now got all of the most important information about booking flights on Skyscanner under your belt. Below, we’ll cover some other useful things to know about Skyscanner.

​​​​​​​Use Skyscanner on Your Desktop or Phone

Skyscanner does have an app you can use to search for and book cheap flights. Personally, we recommend booking flights directly on the Skyscanner website as it’s more user-friendly than the app. Also, the app doesn’t include some of the features that you’ll find on the website.

Skyscanner Reviews

By and large, Skyscanner receives positive reviews. On Trustpilot, over 15,000 reviews have led to a score of 4.3/5 stars and an ‘Excellent’ rating. As they say, the proof is in the pudding.

Trustpilot reviews
Trustpilot reviews

Skyscanner Complaints and Problems

Of course, it isn’t surprising to know that Skyscanner gets its fair share of complaints and negative reviews. Of course, it’s often the online travel agencies listed by Skyscanner that provide poor service. Then, customers will give Skyscanner a negative review as they booked the online travel agency through them. And, this is fair enough as without listing the online travel agency on Skyscanner, a traveller may not have booked with the third-party supplier in the first place.

Skyscanner always does its best to protect users against scam websites as flight providers. But, on the rare occasion, these dodgy suppliers can slip through the cracks and pop up on Skyscanner. By simply reading reviews about the online travel agency on Skyscanner, doing your own research and using your best judgement, you’ll be able to easily avoid any potential scams.

To stay on the safe side when booking with online travel agencies on Skyscanner, perhaps stick to the more well-known companies. These include Kiwi.com, Expedia, eDreams, Opodo and Trip.com.

Find Car Rentals on Skyscanner

In recent years, Skyscanner has expanded to offer rental cars as well as flights. Personally speaking, Beck and I have never used Skyscanner to book a rental car. We’ve always used Discover Cars.

Car Hire

DiscoverCars.com

If you don’t have your own car, you should hire one using Discover Cars. Personally, we use Discover Cars and highly recommend them for finding your ideal car hire at an affordable price. Booking online is super easy and the free cancellation policy is great.

Find Hotels on Skyscanner

Similarly, Skyscanner has also expanded its business to offer hotel deals. We’ve only ever used Skyscanner to book flights. Personally, Beck and I always use Booking.com to find the cheapest accommodation wherever we’re travelling.

FAQs About Booking Flights on Skyscanner

Below, we’ll answer the most frequently asked questions about booking flights on Skyscanner.

Is Skyscanner Legit?

Yes, absolutely. Skyscanner is a legit company with a safe and secure website. In rare cases, the odd online travel agency listed on Skyscanner is illegitimate.

Is It Safe to Book Flights on Skyscanner?

We get asked this question all of the time – ‘Is Skyscanner reliable for booking flights?’ Yes, it’s totally safe to book flights on Skyscanner. Of course, due diligence is required when booking with online travel agencies on Skyscanner. Please read How to Avoid Scams on Skyscanner for more information on how to book safely with online travel agencies on Skyscanner.

Is Skyscanner the Cheapest?

There isn’t one far superior flight booking search engine that exclusively offers the best flight deals. But, Skyscanner is the most popular, well-known and highly-rated search engine used to find cheap flights.

Why Is Skyscanner Cheaper?

Skyscanner, like other flight booking search engines, offers cheaper flights as they list discounted prices from smaller online travel agencies that airlines don’t directly offer and that Google Flights doesn’t include. Remember, Skyscanner doesn’t offer cheap flights itself. It searches for and lists the cheapest flights offered both directly by the airlines and by online travel agencies.

Is It Cheaper to Book Through Skyscanner or Directly with Airlines?

Generally speaking, it’s cheaper to book through an online travel agency on Skyscanner than it is to book directly with an airline. Of course, if you choose to book directly with an airline, through Skyscanner, the price of the flight should be exactly the same as you’ll be redirected by Skyscanner to the airline’s website.

Is It Better to Book Flights Directly With the Airline?

In some cases, it’s best to book directly with the airline, whether that’s through Skyscanner or not. If you’re likely to change your flights or extend your trip after booking, you’ll want to book directly with the airline. It’s notoriously difficult and costly to amend flights that are booked through online travel agencies.

Additionally, you should definitely book directly with budget airlines as budget airline flights don’t tend to be discounted by online travel agencies. In this case, basically, it’s unnecessary to book through an online travel agency.

How Do You Pay For Skyscanner Flights?

It’s very simple to book and pay for flights through Skyscanner. Please read How to Search and Book Flights on Skyscanner and How to Save Money Booking Flights on Skyscanner for more information.

How to Change Flights Booked on Skyscanner?

This depends on whether you book directly with the airline or with an online travel agency on Skyscanner. If you book directly with the airline, even through Skyscanner, you’ll need to contact the airline. If you book with an online travel agency on Skyscanner, you’ll need to get in touch with the online travel agency.

Does Skyscanner Charge a Fee?

No, you can use Skyscanner for free without any fees.

Does Skyscanner Have Hidden Booking Fees?

No, Skyscanner doesn’t charge any hidden booking fees.

Are All Airlines on Skyscanner?

All airlines are listed on Skyscanner. Of course, search engines aren’t perfect. So, Skyscanner may occasionally miss an airline during a search.

Who Owns Skyscanner?

The Trip.com Group owns Skyscanner.

Which Website Is Best For Booking Flights?

Skyscanner is the most well-known and popular flight booking search engine.

Booking Flights on Skyscanner: Recap

There you have it – you’ve learnt how to search for and safely book flight deals on Skyscanner. So, what are you waiting for? Head to the Skyscanner website and find yourself some flight deals so you can travel to your dream travel destination at a fraction of the price!

For a few bonus tips on how to find cheap flights in general, please read below.

Dan and Beck in Sicily

Bonus Tips For Booking the Cheapest Flights

  • Use Google Flights: yes, Skyscanner is a terrific flight aggregator for searching and finding flight deals. But, combining Google Flights and Skyscanner yields the best results. Personally, we start with searching for flights on Google Flights as it’s better for doing a broad search and quickly finding the best travel dates by using filters during the initial search. On Skyscanner, you can only use filters once you’ve selected the dates, which can be restrictive when planning your trip around the cheapest flights.
  • Use Google Flights and then Skyscanner: the downside to Google Flights is that it doesn’t show all the best deals as it excludes many online travel agencies. So, you could start your search for the cheapest flights on Google Flights. Once you know the dates and flights you want to book, you can search for that route on Skyscanner to find all of the best deals available.
  • Use Jack’s Flights Club if you’re based in the UK, Europe or the USA: sure, we’ll set several Flight Alerts on Skyscanner. But, if you like to travel the world and are open to going to any destination, it can be a time-consuming process to set up alerts for hundreds of route options. Personally, Beck and I have used Jack Flight Club’s Premium Membership for many years and highly recommend it. By signing up for Premium Membership, you’ll receive regular flight deal alerts across the globe. This helps us save money when booking our trips.
  • Use I Want That Flight if you’re based in Australia: unfortunately, Jack’s Flight Club doesn’t offer membership in Australia. Thankfully, Australia has its own flight deal alert service – I Know That Flight.

Please leave us a comment below.

Daniel Piggott

Dan is a travel blogger, physiotherapist, hiker, natural wonder seeker and world traveller. He loves writing travel guides to help his readers explore the most beautiful destinations in the world.

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